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Incoming Bartlett CFO may start earlier than anticipated

Tentative first day is Sept. 17, Brough says

It appears Bartlett Regional Hospital will be getting its new chief financial officer some two weeks earlier than expected.

While the hospital announced Monday that it expected Ken Brough, who is currently the CFO of Star Valley Medical Center in Afton, Wyo., would start on or about Oct. 1, Brough said Wednesday that he has been working with Star Valley and now expects to start Sept. 17 instead.

“We’ve got a lot of good people here at our organization, and they understand my need to get up there as soon as possible,” said Brough. “I’m greatly appreciative of the organization here, as well as the one I’m going to.”

After announcing that Brough had been hired Monday, Bartlett’s chief executive officer, Christine Harff, identified Brough’s personability as a key reason he stood out from other candidates for the job.

“I’d like to think of myself as definitely a people person,” Brough agreed. He added that while accountants – Brough is, himself, a certified public accountant – are often stereotyped as not relating well to other people, “I’d like to think that I’m a little more rounded than a normal accountant.”

Robert Storer, president of Bartlett’s board of directors, said Tuesday evening that Brough was well received by hospital staff during the interview process.

“He had meetings with all the staff, and the people I talked to were nothing but positive about this guy,” said Storer.

While Brough has spent his career in the Mountain West, graduating from Utah State University and working in Utah, Montana and now Wyoming, he has family ties to Alaska and has visited many times, including about three trips to Juneau, he said. He also has a cabin on Prince of Wales Island, he added.

“I’m very excited to be coming to the Juneau area. I’ve made a lot of trips to Alaska, well, for 25 years now,” said Brough. “I have a daughter and a son-in-law that run a sport fishing operation there in Southeast Alaska. … I’m excited to be up there where they’re at.”

Brough said he thinks his experience in Wyoming will help him in understanding Alaskan issues.

“I think there definitely is many similarities between Alaska and Wyoming,” Brough said, comparing the states’ energy-driven economies. He added, “We’re definitely a rural state, considered a frontier state, as is Alaska.”